Museum Visit

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and The Walker co-hosted an exhibit this winter on the architect Eero Saarinen. I really wanted to attend it, because of my love of mid-century modern design, and the fact that Saarinen and I both have Finnish roots. For some reason, I thought the exhibit ended mid-December. Yesterday, however, I found out it was still up until today, so I got to see it after all. Architecturally, Saarinen designed a variety of types of buildings, from colleges to corporate campuses to homes to churches. He also designed furniture- chairs and tables, including his famous womb chair. He was also the designer of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Surprisingly, he managed to do so many big projects before the age of 51, as he died an early death as a result of a brain tumor.



While at the Walker, I also looked in on the Text/Messages exhibit. It is an exhibit of books by artists. For me, there were a few treats- books that I enjoyed much more, however, I have been unable to find images of them online. This exhibit is up until April, so if you are in the Minneapolis area, you have time to see it for yourself. My favorite pieces from the exhibit were by the Belgian artist Mark Luyten. They were pages out of a book, on which he made suddle abstract ink and watercolor paintings. It seems that this is a great diversion from the art he is best known for. There was also a version of Alice and Wonderland, which was illustrated by Salvador Dali. There was a book about artists, in which the majority of the text had been sewn over, leaving selected passages uncovered to result in a new text and meaning by the american artist Jen Bervin. My final favorite was by Sarah Sze, an american artist known for her delicate, elaborate sculptures of mundane materials. It was a typical legal pad, in which the pages had been strategically separated and geometric portions cut out, so that the resulting piece resembled architecture.

Soap Factory $99 sale

The Soap Factory is a unique contemporary art gallery in Minneapolis. Their fall fundraiser, the $99 Sale, is fast approaching. The $99 Sale consists of many 5x7" artworks donated by various artists- known and unknown. Sale attendees may purchase any piece for $99, however, they cannot know the maker of the piece until after purchase. This years pre-sale and party is scheduled for September 19th, and the open admission sale is the morning of September 20th. Anyone in the Minneapolis area should go check it out, and support a local arts institution. While you're there, see if you can pick out which piece I made :)

For more details on the $99 Sale, visit http://www.soap99.com/

Uptown Art Fair, Minneapolis

Yesterday I visited the Uptown Art Fair in Minneapolis. This is one of my favorite fairs to go to every year. I haven't been at a point where I've been prepared to apply to show there yet, but perhaps I'll be ready in a couple years. (I think I should get some smaller fairs under my belt first!) This very popular fair is juried, and has a lot of strict requirements to get in, such as you can only sell one kind of work- they don't want your booth to be a mish-mash of different media. If you apply as a pair, all your work shown needs to have been worked on collaboratively. Also, you are not allowed to sell mass-produced work from your booth.

As I walked around, I noticed that I walked right by some of the artists I found especially intriguing last year. If their work looked too much the same, it lost it's appeal to me. Their booths were still busy though, because, of course, there were people seeing their art for the first time. (It is also possible that some people come specifically to see them every year as well.) I don't know whether the artists that caught my eye this year were new to the fair, or if their art had changed from previous years.

My art changes all the time, and I have so many different series of work that look nothing like each other. Perhaps from a selling standpoint, I am too much at the opposite end of the spectrum. There is something to be gained by having people be able to see your work and recognize it as yours (as well as the fact that if a certain style proves to be popular, there are always more people who haven't seen it before). I don't know if my work has this recognizable quality yet, or whether it will ever develop it. I think that is something that is challenging to know about your own work. I can generally recognize a piece by Giacometti or Modigliani, but they both had very distinctive styles that are similar in the majority of their work. On the other hand, I can also usually recognize a Picasso or a Matisse, both of whom worked in a variety of dissimilar styles, which, over time I have learned to associate with them.

At any rate, it is a thought that will probably be running through my head for a while: is there enough similarity between my different styles to be recognizably mine? Does it matter?

Finally, a list of the artists I found most inspiring at this year's Uptown Art Fair:

Signe and Genna Grushovenko (painting)- If I had enough money, I would have bought one of their fantastic pieces on the spot!

Mary Burger (photography)- her photographs are ready to hang, and have a fantastic, textured surface that you really have to see in person. I would love to have some of her work as well!

Ann Wood and Dean Lucker (mechanical pictures)- these were so intriguing and original!

Amy Arnold (woolen creations)- how could you not love her fantastic "peepwool"

Andy Fletcher (paintings)- I love his minimalist landscapes!

Michael Bond (etchings)- I always appreciate the work that goes into intaglio printmaking! I also love the coloring he has added to several of the prints.

And finally, Andrew Johnson (stitched art)- his little whimsical stitched pieces are very charming! (One has found a home with us.)